One Year

Tomorrow marks one year of marriage for Bryce and I. I never realized how much life changes when you say "I do". I can't imagine my life without my sweet husband by my side. We have had an awesome year together.
It took a while for us to both be comfortable with ourselves and the changes that living together brings. We've had our little trials and have met them with prayer and faith. I am one lucky girl to have such a mellow husband who deals with a girl who is way over-dramatic.

Here's to fifty more anniversary's!
...and 50 kitties.

They call this Work

We had an amazing time at work on Friday handing out candy and treating our trick or treaters. The whole building goes all out in decorating for the big day. I thought I would show some pics of what the creative department did. As well as a video staring mine truly, Bryce. He came for the last hour of the day and helped with clean up.

Bryce and I snuggling in the TeePee

The graveyard I made

Ryan and Brandon at the Bank

The outside of the TeePee

Kelly the Blacksmith

Kelly the Buffalo

Chris in his general store

Cowboys and Indians

At work I found out that they take Halloween really seriously. They go all out with decorating the departments in different themes. This year Marketing decided to do the Wild West. Since I am way to uptight to be a saloon girl and find that a pioneer women costume would be lame, I went with an Indian. During General Conference I decided I would spend the many hours sitting around to good use and sewed my costume.

For creating something without a pattern I thought I did really well. The hair was inspired by project runway which I had spent all Saturday watching.


Bryce wanted to be the cowboy to my indian and came up with his costume. A new pearl snap shirt and some bullets polished off his costume. Funny thing was we met at a Halloween dance... and he was dressed up as a cowboy then. I think the little boy inside him always wanted to be a cowboy...or he just owns a hat.

Disclaimer:Bryce knows his skull mask is off center and demands new pictures.

Blessing Day!

My new nephew Sawyer Anthony Kahmann, was blessed by his Dad on the 22nd. We decided that it would be a good reason to finally visit my sister Cherie and her little family who live on the East Coast.

It was a sweet blessing and Sawyer looked so cute in his vintage blessing outfit. It was his Dad's (Keith) when he was blessed. My favorite part of the outfit was the embroidered pistols on the front. I thought it was classic.

During the blessing Sawyer looked around and cooed at all the guys holding him. He is such a peaceful baby.

Start Spreading the News...

Bryce and I decided to take a day trip to New York City while on our trip to Connecticut. Let me tell you my legs have never been so tired! Because we had so little time for such a big city we did our best to get a peek at what this city has to offer.

We enjoyed the train ride from Connecticut and loved snuggling next to each other as we traveled. Little did we know this would be the only time we would feel relaxed the whole trip.

Our arrival in Grand Central Station was a preview of what laid ahead for our day. It was like we were herded cattle and we followed the crowd. Bryce was a little nervous to ride the subway. I had to convince him I knew what I was doing, having spent a lot of time on Public transportation on my mission. He eased up after the first ride. Grand Central Station was beautiful and impressive.

Our first stop was the Staten Island Ferry, it was a fun boat ride that gave us a beautiful view of the city. Plus, it was FREE! We had fun talking with the locals.





We then stopped at Times Square, There were so many people it was a little overwhelming. While taking a few pictures we were ushered out by Police Barricading the block. So it wasn't so exciting. Then we went to the MOMA, saw some art, beat the crowds (It was free day). We were so tired from walking that we saw one floor and went to the gift shop. We bought a I (hear) New York magnet and rolling pin and then headed to Grand Central for lunch.



We had an exhausting day but enjoyed the experience and the right to say, "I visited New York once."

A Photoshoot by Lily Kahmann

Ms. Lily had a good ole' time taking pictures of her family...too bad the majority of the time the camera was facing her and she got a whole lotta' flash in her eyes.

The Grandparents Kahmann

My favorite image was her little poodle blanket because that was the first thing she wanted to take pictures of. Oh! the love of toys.

Koeven Family Reunion

As a child we would get an annual invitation to the Koeven Family Reunion. I would gaze at it and ponder how exciting it would be, I think I even tried to convince my Mom to take us. Since we lived so far from Utah we never went. Well when I got a personal invite mailed to Mrs. Kristen Phillips I couldn't resist. I had to attend. So we marked it on our calendars and set some cash aside to drive down.
This year they honored my beloved Grandma Theone. I thought it was precious they would dedicate the reunion to her. I read a little ditty about Grandma's life and there were images around of her life. My great Aunts Sheila and Mary were there. I love my Aunt Mary, she is such a sweetheart. Seeing her makes me miss my Grandma. Mary has a similar voice and it makes me melt. I love it!

My brothers joined us there, It was nice to see Jon, Janilee and Kent again. I have a great family. I forget how much I miss spending time with them.

I can't wait for my invite for next year!

Lions and tigers and dingos.

The company I work for had free zoo day at the Tautphas park zoo in Idaho Falls. So as a treat to Bryce we went for his birthday. I must say I was impressed. For a town of 50,000 I was expecting far less. Like when my sister said she went to the zoo in Connecticut with Lily and there was a house cat in a cage. This was impressive. They had lots of birds... which we skipped over mostly, but also a variety of asian, african, and south american animals.
They had a real tiger.
And a gorgeous lion and lioness. He had an amazing mane.

The animals were up close and the enclosures were great at giving a variety of views. We saw maybe 100 animals and it was so awesome we might go again!

A Pharm

Bryce and I officially celebrated spring by planting a garden. We got our seeds, pots, and dirt and threw them together to create something hopefully magical. While at the garden store we found some magical seed start kit. It included little wafers which grew huge with water. We just placed our seed in and supposedly it should germinate.

This is much more fun and productive then farmville.

Rainman

(begin rant)

So, I official hate Snow. I know I speak of my hatred for Snow often... but I want it down in writing. I HATE SNOW!!!! In my last will and testament, I want it to be stated that I enjoyed my life except for the parts with Snow in it.

Now, Snow has caused no damage to me other then making me cold, uncomfortable, irritated and worrisome. But if you look at those attributes and apply them to a person; that person would not be a friend. In fact it would be the kind of thing you would have to repent and forgive about. But since Snow is only a form of water I feel that these feelings can be openly expressed without offense.

Now, Rain. Rain is my friend. I love Rain. Rain can put me to sleep, allow me to use my windshield wipers and makes everything green. Rain can be bothersome but it doesn't stick around for weeks on end, it leaves rather quickly.

I guess what the point to all this is is that Snow should get the heck out of my life so I can be warm again because heck, it is SPRING!

(end rant)

Blessings

As most of you know, I started a new job on Monday at Melaleuca as a Graphic Artist. It seems to be enjoyable thus far. I feel like I am in my element with the work they have assigned me. The fact I am familiar with all the programs is a huge bonus. The people seem young and fun and we are working on a multitude of new projects. It is fast paced and I like that. It eliminates the moments where you sit and try and think of work, which I hate.

I sit next to a girl I had a few classes with when I was a freshman. I enjoyed spending time with her in classes and I am looking forward to becoming co-workers. The management is super nice which makes the work day easier.

I just feel so blessed to get this job in what is a tough market. I really think God has been looking out for Bryce and I and just pouring on blessing after blessing. We started out in Rexburg with both of us getting jobs in the first week of being here. We hope to find ways to bless others as much as God is blessing us!

A tour of our new Apartment

So one of the benefits of being married is that you get to come home every night to the one you love... and you get to decorate that home for the one you love and make it yours. When we got married we got a ton of stuff, and a good amount of gift cards... I thank those for making our first apartment cute and warm.

We live in a nice complex here in Rexburg and we love our ward. We choose to go to the family ward instead of the student ward and I must say... I LOVE IT! I think this is one of the best wards I have ever been in. There is such a great variation in ages and experience. About a fourth of the ward are newly weds which allows us to make friends and have dinner parties. I feel really blessed to be here. Bryce and I were called as the activities commitee chairs and we look forward to getting to know even more people and plan some fun events.

So on to the tour, it isn't much but I am sure proud of it!

We decided on a Texas theme living room in honor of Bryce's mission We have the longhorns and everything!

We got our wedding pictures developed and they offer a little warmth and friendliness to our new place.
Our couch, bookcase, and dining room table were donate by my parents... my sister Cherie so elegently stated, that our couch is well used, "and has been farted on by everyone in our family." Well at least we don't have to worry about it getting dirty. :) It is suprisingly in great condition for how long my family had owned it.

The Kitchen.. not so exciting, but it does offer a lot of space.

The Bathroom, It has a subtle lighthouse theme. My Mom and I took a trip up the oregon coast and stopped at all the lighthouses along the way. I used the pictures I took for the images on the walls. I love the colors in here, anyone who knows a little about my pet peeves knows my obsession over nice bathrooms. So making this room inviting was important to me. Our washer and dryer are also in the bathroom and we have linen closets on both sides!

The entryway/hallway

The Bedroom! Thanks Ikea and Bed Bath and Beyond for making things easy!

This is one of my favorite things in the house. Bryce made this dresser as a wedding present to me. I love it! He made it out of Black Walnut, Alder, and Curly Maple. I have quite the talented husband! He also made it extra big so I could cram all my clothes inside.

So my life has gotten a little busy

So I thought I would start this entry with a cruise ship... it explains everything, you see I got married, and it turned my life into a nonstop honeymoon cruise.

Bryce and I were married December 12th in the Portland, OR LDS temple. We had a wonderful and quick 3 month engagement and are now living in the cold climate of Rexburg, ID. Marriage is wonderful if I do say so myself and I enjoy the new blessings and challenges it brings. I love our little family and the addition of my in-laws. Bryce has such a great family and I am so blessed to call them mine now! I love that are parents live close and get along. That is so important to me. Bryce loves having a little niece who adores him and he fits in well with my siblings.

Our wedding turned out beautiful. Everything was perfect and lovely. I worked so hard at making everything from my vision of the day become a reality. I was so grateful for all the people who made it possible.

I am so excited to start my new life with Bryce... thus I am changing up the name of the Blog and hopefully I won't wait so long to update it again!